Emily M. Nichols, MD has been an adult emergency medicine physician since 2006. She has worked in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Baton Rouge in addition to New Orleans. 

Dr. Nichols received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Princeton University. Her senior thesis focused on the importance of doctor-patient relationships and their impact on patient health and outcomes. She completed a post baccalaureate premedical program at the University of Pennsylvania prior to attending medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. Dr. Nichols graduated medical school in 2002 and completed her emergency medicine residency in Brooklyn NY at SUNY Downstate Hospital and Kings County Hospital Center. There she served as Chief Resident at one of the largest emergency resident programs in the nation. Dr. Nichols then moved to Philadelphia PA and underwent additional training in pediatric emergency medicine. Dr. Nichols has served as a Clinical Assistant Instructor and been awarded for her commitment to resident education and wellness. She additionally has worked on quality control committees to improve patient care and hospital experiences.

Dr. Nichols is board certified in both adult and pediatric emergency medicine and is able to care for persons of all ages during their sickest moments. She has also studied public health; her career interests include public health, disaster response, and provider wellness. Dr. Nichols has worked in community clinics in urban and rural settings in the US, Costa Rica, Belize, Haiti, Brazil, and South Africa.  She was an integral part of relief efforts in Port-au-Prince Haiti during the 2010 earthquake, and in 2014 she taught emergency response, first aid, and “train the trainer” courses to responders in Northern Haiti. Dr. Nichols has lectured nationally on the topics of provider wellness and secondary traumatization; she has lectured internationally on the development of 911 systems and emergency medicine in the United States. 

Dr. Nichols enjoys spending her free time with her daughter and her husband, Jonel Daphnis MD, MPH, who is also an emergency physician. 

Dr. Nichols brings a breadth of supervisory and emergency medicine experience to New Orleans EMS. Dr. Nichols values the EMS Continuum of Care and the role of EMS in health care, public safety, and public health. She looks forward to working to provide outstanding, equitable prehospital care to the residents and visitors of New Orleans.